Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $154.57.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on QLYS shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total transaction of $235,821.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 63,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,398,729.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,792 shares of company stock worth $2,455,489 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the first quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Shaker Investments LLC OH raised its holdings in Qualys by 222.4% during the 1st quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 17,256 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after buying an additional 11,903 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Qualys by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,946 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,948 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 389.5% in the first quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $170.36 on Friday. Qualys has a one year low of $107.00 and a one year high of $206.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $166.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01 and a beta of 0.51.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.